The Fool floated beside me, his skeletal hands clasped behind his back as we crouched behind the sand dune, overlooking the Herium and its dozens of armed guards. He was oddly quiet, his mismatched eyes watching the patrols below with faint amusement.
"You know…" he finally said, breaking the silence, "this would be an excellent opportunity to get creative."
"Creative?" I murmured, my gaze locked on the gate. The soldiers patrolled in perfect formation, their movements sharp and precise. More gods had gathered near the Herium now, their divine forms glowing faintly in the dark. It was an impenetrable fortress.
I clenched my fists, the essence within me thrumming with power. "We can't fight all of them. There are too many."
"Exactly," the Fool said with a sly grin. "That's why you need to make them fight each other."
I blinked at him, his words settling in my mind like a dropped stone. "What are you suggesting?"
He floated closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Your illusions, little godling. Don't just scare them—control them. They're already on edge, guarding the Herium, expecting a threat. It won't take much to tip them over the edge."
I frowned, considering his words. The illusions I'd used so far had been crude—nightmares, monstrous forms, simple terror. But he was right. These guards were disciplined, hardened. Fear alone might not work. But if I could turn their own discipline against them…
A grim smile spread across my face. "Fine. Let's make them tear each other apart."
"That's the spirit," the Fool said, his grin wide enough to show every jagged tooth. "Now, go show them something interesting."
I closed my eyes, reaching for the essence within me. It pulsed and swirled, a chaotic storm waiting to be unleashed. My left eye burned as I opened it, the purple fog spilling out and curling around me. When I focused on the guards below, I felt their presence—like tiny flames flickering in the dark, their thoughts and emotions barely veiled.
And then, I began to twist them.The first soldier fell almost immediately.
He was stationed on the far right of the formation, standing stiffly with his spear in hand. His eyes darted nervously as the shadows around him began to shift, stretching and curling into jagged forms. He squinted into the darkness, his grip tightening on his weapon.
Then he saw it: me. Or rather, an illusion of me, sprinting toward the Herium.
"Stop him!" he shouted, breaking formation and chasing after the mirage. His voice carried through the air, and other guards turned in confusion. The illusion darted left, zigzagging between the patrols, and soon half a dozen soldiers were running after it, their shouts growing frantic.
"Nice touch," the Fool said, floating beside me. "But don't get sloppy. One illusion won't break them."
"I'm not done yet," I said, my voice steady.
I focused on the soldiers who remained in their positions, tightening their grips on their weapons as their comrades disappeared into the dunes. For them, I conjured something different: the faces of their brothers-in-arms, twisted and shadowed. The guards closest to them seemed to shimmer and warp, their eyes glowing faintly, their movements jerky and unnatural.
"What's wrong with you?" one guard barked at his companion, stepping back. "Stop staring at me like that!"
"I'm not doing anything," the other soldier snapped, but his voice faltered as he glanced down at his own hands. To him, they must have looked monstrous, claws dripping with blood.
The first guard didn't hesitate. His spear lashed out, piercing the other's shoulder.
"Traitor!" he shouted, his voice panicked.
It spread like wildfire. The patrol disintegrated into chaos as the illusions took hold, each soldier seeing the others as enemies, their forms shifting and contorting into shadowy doppelgängers. Spears clashed against shields, shouts of confusion turning to cries of pain as blood stained the sand.
"You're a natural," the Fool said, lounging lazily in the air. "Turning them into their own worst enemies. Efficient. Cruel. I approve."
I ignored him, my focus on the soldiers. One by one, they fell, either to their comrades' weapons or to the illusions themselves, their fear overtaking their reason.
But it wasn't perfect.
From the corner of my eye, I spotted a soldier running toward the Herium itself, his eyes wide with terror. He wasn't attacking the others—he was fleeing.
"He's going for the gate," I muttered.
"Smart of him," the Fool said. "But not smarter than you, surely?"
I exhaled sharply and conjured another illusion. The soldier froze as he reached the base of the Herium, his eyes widening as the stone gate seemed to twist and writhe. Shadowy forms erupted from the cracks, jagged and monstrous, their glowing eyes locking onto him. He stumbled back, his sword clattering to the ground.
But it wasn't enough. He kept running, his desperate footsteps echoing in the dark.
"Let him go," the Fool said, his tone oddly casual.
"What? He'll alert the gods—"
"Thats what we want. We make them think we went through the front gates of the Herium." the Fool interrupted, his grin widening. "But instead we go through the back gates, you see when… Urm one of my old pals created this thing he told me one very special thing about how to change dimensions without leaving a single trace. Trust me, little godling. Sometimes leaving a survivor is just as valuable as killing them."
I hesitated, but there was no time to argue. The soldier disappeared into the shadows, his terrified cries fading into the distance.
"Fine," I muttered, turning my attention back to the Herium. The remaining guards were scattered and broken, their formations destroyed. The gods who had been guarding the gate were now distracted, rushing toward the commotion to restore order.
This was my chance.
We slipped through the chaos, the Fool floating behind me with an air of smug satisfaction. The Herium loomed before us, its golden light casting jagged shadows across the sand. Up close, the gate was even more imposing, its pulsating energy humming like a heartbeat.
"How do we even open it?" I said inspecting the gate.
The Fool tilted his head, studying the gate with mock curiosity. "If it's anything like the Herium I know of then it will be simple. Just reach out with your essence, little godling. The Herium back then required the essence of the ancient gods to operate. I believe they use it via a key that my pal built in-order for others to use it. But you don't need something trivial like that, after all you have me"
I stepped forward, my left eye burning as I focused on the gate. The cracks in its surface seemed to ripple in response, the energy shifting and surging toward me. I reached out, the essence inside me thrumming as it connected with the Herium's power.
The gate groaned, the cracks widening as a brilliant light spilled forth. The air around us twisted, warping as the fabric of reality began to unravel.
"Move quickly," the Fool said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "Once it's open, it won't stay that way for long."
I stepped through the gate, the light swallowing me whole.
The Herium sealed itself behind us with a deafening crack, the golden light fading into nothingness. I stumbled forward, the world around me spinning as the Fool floated beside me, his grin as sharp as ever.
"Well, that was fun," he said. "Shall we do it again sometime?"
I ignored him, my gaze scanning the vaguely familiar landscape before us, it was a void filled with blue and purple stars, glinting around.
"You know how to operate this right? Cause I have never actually used it. I have only ever seen it being used once." I said.
"Eh? You never used it and yet you intended to come here? What would you do if I didn't know."
"I'd figure it out." I said, brushing him off.
My eyes landed on the soldier far behind us, back at the Herium just as the gates closed, the surviving soldier knelt before a towering figure cloaked in shadow. His armor was stained with blood, his hands trembling as he recounted what he had seen.
"He… he wasn't just a god," the soldier stammered, his voice breaking. "He was… death itself. A shadow… a monster… no light could touch him. And and…"
The soldier paused for a second, his breath hitched. "He… he had this maddening smile. As if he was enjoying the killing."
The figure loomed over him, silent and unmoving. Its eyes—glowing faintly like dying embers—narrowed as it turned toward the distant gate.
"A god who laughs even at death huh," it murmured, its voice deep and hollow. "How interesting."
The soldier shivered, his head bowed as the shadowy figure stepped into the light, its presence suffocating.
"Find him," the figure commanded, its voice cutting through the silence like a blade.